Wednesday, 4 May 2011

Joining in

It's sort of embarrassing, and I didn't like to mention it, but last Wednesday I took the kids swimming.

That's not the embarrassing bit. It was when I had to explain to Shark, Squirrel and Tiger why their local home ed group, the one composed of umpteen friends, didn't turn up. At first, I couldn't understand where everyone was. Didn't they know Wednesday 27 April was the day for swimming fun?

I'll take the blame, and say it's my inability to fit in with time.

Days, weeks, they all blend together. Maybe I just haven't mastered that trick of reading a calendar with actual dates attached. Although it is a little awkward not to be able to read an email that has words in red letters, two screen-inches high,Meet at swimming pool 4 May.

Fortunately for me, the home ed group arrived today, 4 May! Same date and time as us!

But some of the kids didn't recognise Shark, Squirrel and Tiger. Their hair is different, Shark's within a whisper of meeting me eye-to-eye, everyone of them is taller, bigger, rounder.

Some of the parents didn't recognise me, either. I'm wearing different clothes, I lost weight, I became timid with the hair colour, after everything I'd said.

Admittedly, some of the parents or their kids I didn't recognise in return. People shrink, they grow bigger, they change clothes. A lot happens over a year. New people join, some folks move away. There are hellos to make and renew; a family returns from three years in the North, a child is starting out again without school, a new baby sister gurgles at the table.

Afterwards, I told Shark, Squirrel and Tiger, don't be sad if you swim alone, incognito, for a while. The world is a strange one; it's hard to build consistency through the years, but by and large, in this community with home ed, we do.

Think about it; we have these common bonds. We all know how each of us made difficult decisions, how we went out of the common way and chose an uncommon path, and now we all know how it's possible. To everyone else, we might misstep, do it wrong, be not normal. But from here, we know there are thousands more families, just like us, looking at the world from this side. We know too, how we'll make mistakes, make a mess, find understanding, help out, seek consolation, and wring our hands over something. By these ways we'll always know each other.

I tell Shark, Squirrel and Tiger, don't worry. We might go away but we'll come back. Here, in a few weeks, all the routines will be ordinary again and the faces familiar. You'll wonder if we ever went away, and you'll exclaim how on earth could I ever make a mistake over an ordinary Wednesday swimming date?

Other stuff

We have educated triplet girls to age 16 by never sending them to school.

At age 16, one daughter is now at 6th form for A levels, so you can find out about culture clash.

The other two daughters are taking a year to think what they want to do next, because we run at our own pace.If you are looking for primary, try the archives under 2011 or 2012. Ideas? Try Seven days with elephants.

Secondary home ed? Try 2012 or 2014 through to 2016.

Exams made life boring for us all and the blog stopped for long periods so the home educated could concentrate on enjoying some teens.

From 2016, expect the blog to start concentrating on me, me, me, because it's my turn.

Home ed style: Secular, philosophical, eclectic, autonomous.

Exams: own choice IGCSE courses. The HE-exams group is a must-join. I gave formal lessons in nothing.

where is everybody?

This blog is a record of a home educationwrit for parents thinking about home edwrit for the LA who need an education about home edwrit for Grit's friends and relations who drop in once a yearand writ for Grit's sane and lovely mind.

The internal DCSF Consultation Report, made public 23 January. (pdf)In Annex A, 94% of respondents disagreed that the local authority should have the power to interview a home educated child alone.When this comes out Ed Balls' mouth in the Second Reading Debate, 94% against turns to:'The vast majority of parents would be happy to let that happen'(Hansard 11.01.10, Children, Schools and Families Bill, col 437.)

Love it or loathe it? The petition still broke a record.Press release in the Mirror, Channel4 news, the Guardian.

'Even if you don't currently see yourself home educating, you never know what the future might hold, and if a time comes when you find yourself needing to pull your child out of school, I hope the option is still available to you, and you don't regret thinking *it's nothing to do with me*.'

Read the Right to Reply'Home educators are renowned for their strong opinions and independent spirit. They come from all faiths and none. They have as many approaches to education as there are children. They rarely agree on anything. And yet they are remarkably united in their opposition to these proposals. There is great concern that their way of life will be legislated out of existence.'--Response to the Badman Review of Elective Home Education in England and reaction to the Select Committee hearing.

The problem with home educators is that they are impossible to define. The only things that links them is respect for their children. And did the state just stagger foolishly across that line?Are we sandal wearing tree huggers who let our kids run wild or control mad Jesus freaks who don't want them learning about sex and evolution? Are we hot housing or leaving them to watch TV and play computer games all day? -Firebird.The UK government suggested that we home educate our children to cover up our abuse.On that issue, would you like some statistics?

'The Department [for Children, Schools and Families] is aware that attempts are being made on the Internet to vilify and harass the author of the review. It is the Department's view that, whilst dealing with each request on its merits, this situation will have to be taken into account in dealing with any relevant FOI requests. ... we anticipate the need to consider whether it is in the public interest to release information likely to intensify any such campaign, or to lead to harassment or distress to individuals.'Hello DCSF. Vilify: to make vicious and defamatory statements about.Like putting it about that home educated children are abused by their parents? Isolated? Unsocialised? Denied an education?And the latest one, that their mothers have Munchhausen's Syndrome by Proxy, and benefit from their child's suffering.

... compulsory registration, entry to the home, inspection according to external standards, and power to see the child without the parent present.By implication this applies to anyone who has their child at home with them: particularly parents with under 5s, but also those with school-aged children who are at home in the evenings, over the weekends, and throughout the summer holidays. Think on: the possibility of parental inspection, with or without your presence, based on the very human whim of a local authority officer.Is that okay with you?Renegade Parent on the implications for all parents from the Badman review of home education.

'Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children'.(Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948, Article 26.3)

Photos and text copyright Grit.This is Grit's blog. The pictures come from her broken phone camera, and they are hers by right.

The words too are Grit's, Grit's, all Grit's. This is not to say you cannot use any words that Grit uses - after all, she is the unhinged woman who once banned SOIL - but you just cannot lift them in the long, complex and lovely arrangements, like the ones Grit has writ.

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